Considering the manner in which a wave of illness has ravaged the Chicago Bulls during their playoff series with Brooklyn, the Spurs were taking no chances that whatever is hampering Duncan might be contagious.

Luol Deng missed Chicago's Game 6 loss and did not travel for its eventual Game 7 victory with an affliction so severe, it caused him to be hospitalized. Taj Gibson and Nate Robinson played Games 6 and 7 for the Bulls, but Robinson spent part of the game vomiting on the bench.

With Game 1 against the Warriors fast approaching, the Spurs are wary of a similar outbreak.

“You have to be careful, of course,” guard Manu Ginobili said. “But sometimes the thing is contagious before you realize. So there's not much you can do.”

The real Bogut: When center Andrew Bogut posted 14 points, 21 rebounds and four blocks in Golden State's series-clinching Game 6 win over Denver, it was difficult to imagine anyone outside of the Bay Area more excited than Spurs guard Patty Mills.

After watching his teammate on the Australian national team struggle through an injury-plagued past five seasons, Mills said it was nice to see Bogut enjoy a breakthrough on the postseason stage.

“That's Andrew Bogut, if you've ever seen him at his best,” Mills said. “What he showed the other night, that's the real Andrew Bogut.”

The 28-year-old Bogut, a former No. 1 overall pick of Milwaukee, appeared in only 32 games this season after undergoing ankle surgery in April 2012. His point and rebound totals from the series finale against Denver were career playoff highs.

Mills began playing with Bogut — widely regarded as the top Australian player of all-time — on that country's national team in 2005.